The Latest 2023 MLB Playoff Race Predictions With 5 Weeks to Go
Can you believe we'll have an official, finalized 2023 MLB postseason bracket just five weeks from today?
Feels like it was only yesterday that we were making preseason projections with the Yankees, Mets, Padres, Cardinals and Guardians all making the playoffs.
Ah, memories.
Five months later, though, the never-predictable puzzle is almost complete.
But how about one more batch of predictions before we enter the home stretch?
After all, there's still quite a bit of regular-season baseball yet to be played.
Starting in the American League, we'll go through each division, pointing out the three biggest remaining matchups within it and offering up the three biggest things to watch before giving predictions on each team's final record/standing. And after the divisions, we'll tackle the crowded wild-card races before making round-by-round predictions for the 2023 MLB postseason.
And before you fret about picking all the favorites, just know there's a No. 6 seed making the World Series for a second straight year.
Records are current through the start of play Monday unless otherwise noted.
AL East
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Current Standings
Baltimore Orioles (81-49)
Tampa Bay Rays (80-52, 2 GB)
Toronto Blue Jays (71-60, 10.5 GB)
Boston Red Sox (69-62, 12.5 GB)
New York Yankees (62-68, 19 GB)
Three Biggest Intradivision Matchups Remaining
Tampa Bay @ Baltimore, Sept. 14-17 (four games)
Tampa Bay @ Toronto, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 (three games)
Boston @ Toronto, Sept. 15-17 (three games)
Three Things to Watch Down the Stretch
1. Can the depleted Rays survive a brutal closing stretch?
If the Rays can sweep that four-game series in Baltimore in a few weeks' time, they could retake the AL East lead in a hurry. Conversely, they could really fall apart over the final month of the season, because their "easiest" remaining games are against the 63-68 Angels and the 62-69 Guardians. Aside from that, it's six games against Toronto, five against Boston, four against each of Baltimore and Seattle, three at Minnesota and two at Miami. Long reliever Zack Littell has done a better-than-expected job thus far as a starter, but can the Rays continue to hold it together against that slate with him and an opener making up two-fifths of the rotation? Good thing they have an 8.5-game cushion in the wild-card race, but there's time left to blow it.
2. Can the O's capitalize on their schedule?
While Tampa Bay has a big hill to climb to reach the finish line, Baltimore could just about cruise to the AL East crown, as well as the AL's No. 1 seed. The O's only have 10 games remaining against current projected playoff teams (three at Arizona, three at Houston in addition to the four vs. the Rays), and they still have a combined total of 12 home games left against the White Sox, Cardinals, Nationals and Red Sox. But "playing in meaningful baseball games in September" is a foreign concept to the vast majority of this young roster, so we'll see how they handle the pressure. (Losing Félix Bautista to the IL with a UCL injury over the weekend didn't help matters.)
3. Will either the Blue Jays or the Red Sox make it?
Halfway through the season, it was plausible that all three wild-card teams would come from the AL East. At the end of play on June 29, Tampa Bay was winning the division with Baltimore, New York and Toronto all ahead of Houston and Los Angeles for the three wild-card spots. But the Yankees have completely fallen out of the picture while Houston and Seattle have both leap-frogged the Blue Jays, leaving us with just two AL East teams in the current postseason field. Both Toronto (2.5 GB) and Boston (4.5 GB) are still in the hunt, though, with the Blue Jays set up to go on a tear over the next two weeks against Washington, Colorado, Oakland and Kansas City.
Projected Standings
Baltimore 101-61 (AL No. 1 Seed)
Tampa Bay 93-69 (Wild Card)
Toronto 89-73
Boston 86-76
New York 78-84
AL Central
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Current Standings
Minnesota Twins (68-63)
Cleveland Guardians (62-69, 6 GB)
Detroit Tigers (59-71, 8.5 GB)
Chicago White Sox (52-79, 16 GB)
Kansas City Royals (41-91, 27.5 GB)
Three Biggest Intradivision Matchups Remaining
Minnesota @ Cleveland, Sept. 4-6 (three games)
Cleveland @ Minnesota, Aug. 28-30 (three games)
Cleveland @ Detroit, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 (three games)
Three Things to Watch Down the Stretch
1. Will there be any drama whatsoever?
Minnesota has been alone in first place in this woeful division for just about the entire season, but it has refused to run away with it, never once leading by more than 6.0 games. And with six of their next nine games against second-place Cleveland—with three games at Texas sandwiched between those two series—there's a chance the Twins still make this interesting. However, if they win at least four of six against the Guardians, we can pretty much lock them in as the AL's No. 3 seed.
2. Could Detroit still make things interesting?
The Tigers have won 12 of their last 23 games, however, with no head-to-head games with Minnesota left on the docket, closing an 8.5-game gap in a month's time is highly unlikely. As of Sunday morning, ESPN, Baseball Reference and FanGraphs all had Detroit's postseason odds in the 0.9 to 1.5 percent range. But, hey, the Tigers aren't dead yet, and they only have three games left against a team currently in the postseason picture (at Dodgers, Sept. 18-20). If they still have a pulse after that series ends, wrapping up play with 10 games against Oakland (four), Kansas City (three) and Cleveland (three) could get fun.
3. First-ever division winner with a losing record?
Technically, the 1994 Texas Rangers won the AL West with a 52-62 record. But as far as seasons that weren't abruptly terminated by a strike go, there has never been a division champ with a losing record. Minnesota is probably going to avoid becoming that dubious first, as it is five games over .500 with one of the easiest remaining schedules in the majors. But until the Twins actually win their 81st game, it's still plausible. And to the end, last year, the Twins led the AL Central for most of the season before completely cratering down the stretch, losing 23 of their final 34 games.
Projected Standings
Minnesota 85-77 (AL No. 3 Seed)
Detroit 78-84
Cleveland 77-85
Chicago 63-99
Kansas City 52-110
AL West
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Current Standings
Seattle Mariners (74-56)
Texas Rangers (73-57, 1 GB)
Houston Astros (74-58, 1 GB)
Los Angeles Angels (63-68, 11.5 GB)
Oakland Athletics (38-93, 35.5 GB) - mathematically eliminated
Three Biggest Intradivision Matchups Remaining
Texas @ Seattle, Sept. 28-Oct. 1 (four games)
Seattle @ Texas, Sept. 22-24 (three games)
Houston @ Texas, Sept. 4-6 (three games)
Three Things to Watch Down the Stretch
1. Who the heck wins this free-for-all?
It looked for a while like the NL Central was going to be the only division with the possibility of at least three teams battling it out until the bitter end. But between Seattle catching fire and Texas falling apart at the seams, the AL West has indisputably become the divisional race to watch. As of Sunday morning, FanGraphs' playoff odds had Seattle as the "favorite" at 40.4 percent, Houston close behind at 39.7 percent and Texas very much in the mix at 19.9 percent. Of note, within the trio, Houston only has six head-to-head games remaining while Seattle and Texas each have 10. That could be a key leg up for the Astros in this race.
2. Can both runners-up edge out Toronto (and Boston) for playoff spots?
The AL's wild-card picture is nowhere near the logjam that the NL's is. Barring an absolute collapse by Tampa Bay or Boston going on a tear, it's going to be the Blue Jays and the AL West's second- and third-place finishers battling for the last two spots in the field. And those aforementioned 10 head-to-head AL West games left on Seattle's plate? They all come in the final 10 days of the regular season, while Toronto has six of its final nine against Tampa Bay. It's going to come right down to the wire.
3. Could the A's be a spoiler in all of this?
When perusing a playoff contender's remaining schedule, you chalk up games against Oakland as probable wins, right? But the lowly A's have six games left against Seattle, as well as three each against Houston, Texas and Toronto. Thus far against those four teams, they have gone 5-25 with a negative-99 run differential. But if they win even one of those 15 games, it would feel like a game-changer.
Projected Standings
Houston 93-69 (AL No. 2 Seed)
Texas 92-70 (Wild Card)
Seattle 91-71 (Wild Card)
Los Angeles 75-87
Oakland 47-115
AL Wild-Card Picture
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Current Standings
Tampa Bay Rays (80-52, +5 GB)
Seattle Mariners (74-56, +1 GB; AL West leader)
Texas Rangers (73-57)
Houston Astros (74-58)
Toronto Blue Jays (71-60, 2.5 GB)
Boston Red Sox (69-62, 4.5 GB)
All Head-to-Head Matchups Remaining
Houston @ Boston, Aug. 28-30 (three games)
Houston @ Texas, Sept. 4-6 (three games)
Boston @ Tampa Bay, Sept. 4-6 (three games)
Seattle @ Tampa Bay, Sept. 7-10 (four games)
Texas @ Toronto, Sept. 11-14 (four games)
Boston @ Toronto, Sept. 15-17 (three games)
Boston @ Texas, Sept. 18-20 (three games)
Seattle @ Texas, Sept. 22-24 (three games)
Toronto @ Tampa Bay, Sept. 22-24 (three games)
Houston @ Seattle, Sept. 25-27 (three games)
Tampa Bay @ Boston, Sept. 26-27 (two games)
Texas @ Seattle, Sept. 28-Oct. 1 (four games)
Tampa Bay @ Toronto, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 (three games)
Tiebreakers
We've already somewhat touched on each of the six teams in this race, but let's discuss tiebreakers, as "Game 163" went by the wayside before last season. All ties are now broken mathematically.
As you can clearly see above, there are a ton of remaining matchups between these six teams. When all the dust has settled, though, the first tiebreaker will be head-to-head record. And among the four teams bunched closest together, it will ultimately settle all but one possible two-team tie.
Houston, Seattle and Texas will end up with 13 head-to-head games each, meaning a tie would be impossible. Seattle has already locked in its advantage over Houston at 8-2 with three games remaining. Texas leads Seattle 5-1 with seven games remaining. And Houston leads Texas 6-4 with three games remaining. (Any AL East tiebreaker would also be settled by H2H record.)
Throw Toronto into the mix with the three AL West squads and the Blue Jays have won their season series against Houston (4-3), currently trail Texas 1-2 with four games remaining (in Toronto) and have tied with Seattle (3-3).
If Toronto and Seattle end up tied, tiebreaker No. 2 is intradivision record, where Seattle has effectively already won. The Mariners have gone 22-11 against the AL West while the Blue Jays are 12-25 against the AL East. With 19 intradivision games remaining, Seattle could still end up with at least 25 losses. However, if that happens while Toronto more or less wins out against the AL East, there's no way they'd be tied in the standings.
For what it's worth, if it comes down to Boston vs. Seattle for a wild-card spot, they also split their six games, and Boston at least has a 19-14 intradivision record. If they end up tied in the standings and in intradivision record, the third tiebreaker is intraleague games—i.e. Boston vs. AL Central/West; Seattle vs. AL East/Central. In that department, the Red Sox are currently 30-22 compared to the Mariners' 30-28. And considering Boston's record against the NL (18-26 with no games remaining) is guaranteed to be worse than Seattle's (20-17), I'm all but certain Boston would win the intraleague tiebreaker if it came down to that.
Projected Standings
Houston 93-69 (AL West champ; No. 2 seed)
Tampa Bay 93-69 (No. 4 seed)
Texas 92-70 (No. 5 seed)
Seattle 91-71 (No. 6 seed)
Toronto 89-73
Boston 86-76
NL East
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Current Standings
Atlanta Braves (84-45)
Philadelphia Phillies (72-58, 12.5 GB)
Miami Marlins (66-65, 19 GB)
Washington Nationals (61-70, 24 GB)
New York Mets (60-71, 25 GB)
Three Biggest Intradivision Matchups Remaining
Atlanta @ Philadelphia, Sept. 11-13 (four games)
Philadelphia @ Atlanta, Sept. 18-20 (three games)
Miami @ Philadelphia, Sept. 8-10 (three games)
Three Things to Watch Down the Stretch
1. Will Atlanta secure NL's No. 1 seed and/or set a franchise record for wins?
Though Atlanta has won the NL East in each of the past five seasons and in eight of the last 19 years, it hasn't been the NL's No. 1 seed since 2003, and has not posted the outright best record in the majors since 1999. Both of those droughts could come to an end, as the Braves are four games ahead of Los Angeles in the NL standings, as well as 3.5 games clear of Baltimore for home-field advantage through the World Series. They are also presently on pace to match their single-season franchise record for wins (106 in 1998). The four-game series in Los Angeles over Labor Day weekend could make or break all of the above.
2. Will Miami get back into the playoff picture?
After entering the All-Star Break at 53-39, the Marlins have gone 13-26 in the second half, plummeting from the second-best record in the NL to the ninth-best. They're still within reasonable striking distance at three games back for the No. 6 seed, albeit with the toughest remaining schedule among the NL's playoff hopefuls. Fifteen of their next 19 games are against projected playoff teams, and even the other four are on the road against a Washington Nationals team that has been hot since July 20.
3. Can the Phillies avoid a September collapse?
In addition to the 10 games against Atlanta and Miami listed above, the Phillies open September with a six-game road trip against Milwaukee and San Diego. They do have a small cushion over Arizona, Chicago and Co. for the NL's No. 4 seed, but scuffling through a three-week long rough patch could bury them in a hurry. Closing out the season with 10 games against the Mets (seven) and Pirates (three) could be a saving grace, but we'll see if the Phillies can hang onto home-field advantage in the wild-card round.
Projected Standings
Atlanta 105-57 (NL No. 1 Seed)
Philadelphia 89-73 (Wild Card)
Miami 80-82
Washington 75-87
New York 74-88
NL Central
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Current Standings
Milwaukee Brewers (73-57)
Chicago Cubs (69-61, 4 GB)
Cincinnati Reds (68-64, 6 GB)
Pittsburgh Pirates (58-73, 15.5 GB)
St. Louis Cardinals (56-75, 17.5 GB)
Three Biggest Intradivision Matchups Remaining
Milwaukee @ Chicago, Aug. 28-30 (three games)
Chicago @ Cincinnati, Sept. 1-3 (four games)
Chicago @ Milwaukee, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 (three games)
Three Things to Watch Down the Stretch
1. A massive week on deck
Cincinnati and Milwaukee played their final head-to-head game on July 26, but Chicago has 10 games left against its fellow contenders in the NL Central. Seven of those games come in the next seven days. Better yet, while the Cubs play the Brewers, the Reds will face the Giants. And when the Cubs are playing the Reds, the Brewers will be tangling with the Phillies. This race could get a major shake-up between now and Labor Day.
2. Can Cincinnati overcome its pitching woes?
Though the Reds did basically nothing at the trade deadline, fans were understandably excited about the impending return of starting pitchers Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo. Unfortunately, Lodolo suffered a setback while making a rehab start with Triple-A Louisville last Sunday. On the same day, Greene made his first MLB appearance in over two months, only to get absolutely shelled in a loss to the Blue Jays. Greene also struggled in Friday's loss to the Diamondbacks—squandering eight runs from the offense in a massive wild-card outcome. But with a relatively favorable remaining schedule, can the offense lead a playoff push?
3. Can the Cubs 'run differential' their way to a come-from-behind division title (or at least a wild-card spot)?
Since four days into the 2023 calendar, the Cubs have spent the entire season between 1.5 and 8.5 games back in the NL Central. But they've also had the best run differential in the division for several months now, hoping that their luck would improve—and that Milwaukee's luck would fade—to close that gap in a hurry. Of the three teams in this race, though, Chicago has the toughest remaining schedule, mostly because the Cubs are done with the Cardinals while the Reds (six games) and Brewers (seven games) still have a bunch of projected wins over St. Louis.
Projected Standings
Milwaukee 87-75 (NL No. 3 Seed)
Chicago 86-76 (Wild Card)
Cincinnati 84-78
Pittsburgh 71-91
St. Louis 69-93
NL West
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Current Standings
Los Angeles Dodgers (80-49)
Arizona Diamondbacks (69-62, 12 GB)
San Francisco Giants (67-63, 13.5 GB)
San Diego Padres (61-70, 20 GB)
Colorado Rockies (49-81, 31.5 GB)
Three Biggest Intradivision Matchups Remaining
San Francisco @ Arizona, Sept. 19-20 (two games)
Arizona @ Los Angeles, Aug. 28-30 (three games)
Los Angeles @ San Francisco, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 (three games)
Three Things to Watch Down the Stretch
1. Can Los Angeles catch Atlanta?
As with the NL East, there's no debating who will win the NL West. Even with Arizona winning 10 of its last 12 games, the Dodgers are running away with the division. L.A. is also somewhat comfortably clear of Milwaukee for the NL's No. 2 seed. But there could at least be some drama in the race for the No. 1 seed, especially with Los Angeles hosting Atlanta for the four-game set next weekend. If the Dodgers win at least three of those four contests, game on.
2. Can Arizona secure its spot as an NL wild-card team by beating up on the AL?
For whatever scheduling reason, the Diamondbacks have played the fewest interleague games of any team. So, in addition to starting September with three games against Baltimore, Arizona will end the regular season with nine straight against the Yankees, White Sox and Astros. Coincidentally, the Phillies punched their 2022 postseason ticket with a win over Houston in the final series of the regular season. Perhaps Arizona can do the same.
3. Can the Giants rally before it's too late?
Barely three weeks ago, the Giants were still a legitimate threat to win the NL West. After an August 3 victory over Arizona, San Francisco was just 2.5 games behind the Dodgers, had a 1.5 game lead over Philadelphia for the No. 4 seed and a three-game cushion over Miami as the first team out of the field. Since then, the Giants have been a train wreck, losing seven consecutive series, including getting swept in a two-game set at Oakland. They are now on the outside looking in with 23 games remaining against the NL West. Got to make the most of the seven against Colorado and the seven against San Diego, and try to not lose too much ground in the seven against Los Angeles.
Projected Standings
Los Angeles 101-61 (NL No. 2 Seed)
Arizona 85-77 (Wild Card)
San Francisco 83-79
San Diego 80-82
Colorado 61-101
NL Wild-Card Picture
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Current Standings
Milwaukee Brewers (73-57, +4.5 GB, NL Central leader)
Philadelphia Phillies (72-58, +3.5 GB)
Chicago Cubs (69-61, +0.5 GB)
Arizona Diamondbacks (69-62)
Cincinnati Reds (68-64, 1.5 GB)
San Francisco Giants (67-63, 1.5 GB)
Miami Marlins (66-65, 3 GB)
All Head-to-Head Matchups Remaining
Milwaukee @ Chicago, Aug. 28-30 (three games)
Cincinnati @ San Francisco, Aug. 28-30 (three games)
Chicago @ Cincinnati, Sept. 1-3 (four games)
Philadelphia @ Milwaukee, Sept. 1-3 (three games)
San Francisco @ Chicago, Sept. 4-6 (three games)
Arizona @ Chicago, Sept. 7-10 (four games)
Miami @ Philadelphia, Sept. 8-10 (three games)
Miami @ Milwaukee, Sept. 11-14 (four games)
Chicago @ Arizona, Sept. 15-17 (three games)
San Francisco @ Arizona, Sept. 19-20 (two games)
Milwaukee @ Miami, Sept. 22-24 (three games)
Chicago @ Milwaukee, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 (three games)
Wild-Card Thoughts
With one more team in the mix than the AL wild-card picture, multiple representatives from each of the three divisions and so much head-to-head action still to come, I'm not going to waste your time or my time by going through all of the possible tiebreaker scenarios here.
However, I will note that Miami split its season series with each of Cincinnati and San Francisco, which could bring the intradivision record tiebreaker into play if the Marlins can claw back into this thing. (It's also possible Miami-Milwaukee, Milwaukee-Philadelphia and Chicago-San Francisco end up splitting their season series, but we'll see how their remaining games play out.)
The biggest takeaway here is that so much of this race hinges on Chicago. Because not only are the Cubs presently right on the cut line, but they are also involved in 20 of the 38 games listed above.
Chicago doesn't have any games left against Philadelphia or Miami, but it does still have the entire seven-game season series yet to come against Arizona, as well as six games against Milwaukee, four in Cincinnati and three at home against San Francisco.
The Cubs can play their way into the postseason field, but they could also just about decide who joins them. They could sweep the games against Arizona and effectively kick the Diamondbacks to the curb. They could win the six against Milwaukee and lose the four to Cincinnati to drastically improve the Reds' chances of winning the NL Central.
Or they could more or less just evenly split all of those remaining games and keep the status quo. But even that could be big news for the Marlins, who are probably going to need some help in order to leapfrog at least three teams to get back into this thing.
Also, though we aren't explicitly including them in the discussion, it bears mentioning that neither San Diego (8 GB) nor Washington (8 GB) has been completely written off here. It would take a minor miracle to jump over this many teams while closing that much of a gap at this point in the season, but it's already a minor miracle that the Nationals have won 23 of their last 35 games, or that the Padres are nine games below .500 with a plus-53 run differential. Maybe one of them could still crash the party.
Projected Standings
Philadelphia Phillies 89-73 (No. 4 seed)
Milwaukee Brewers 87-75 (NL Central champ; No. 3 seed)
Chicago Cubs 86-76 (No. 5 seed)
Arizona Diamondbacks 85-77 (No. 6 seed)
Cincinnati Reds 84-78
San Francisco Giants 83-79
Miami Marlins 80-82
Projected MLB Postseason Bracket (Wild Card Round)
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National League
No. 3 Milwaukee Brewers over No. 6 Arizona Diamondbacks
No. 4 Philadelphia Phillies over No. 5 Chicago Cubs
Arizona-Milwaukee is the toughest call in this round, but between home-field advantage and potentially having Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and a scorching hot Freddy Peralta lined up for those games, got to give the edge to Milwaukee.
Similar story in Chicago-Philadelphia, where the Cubs might have the best starting pitcher in the series (Justin Steele), but they qcould have trouble matching up in Games 2 and 3 of what would be a road series.
American League
No. 6 Seattle Mariners over No. 3 Minnesota Twins
No. 5 Texas Rangers over No. 4 Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa Bay just refuses to go away, but I also refuse to put any faith in that depleted Rays pitching staff in October, especially if it runs into an offense as potent as the Rangers. (And you kind of have to assume Texas will have snapped out of its recent funk by then, right?)
In the other matchup, we've all been waiting for months to pick the AL's last wild card team to knock the AL Central champ out of the postseason. If it's Seattle vs. Minnesota, it could be a phenomenal pitching duel. But the Mariners' bats get the job done.
Projected MLB Postseason Bracket (Division Series)
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National League
No. 1 Atlanta Braves over No. 4 Philadelphia Phillies
No. 2 Los Angeles Dodgers over No. 3 Milwaukee Brewers
When we looked at potential nightmare matchups last week, Milwaukee surprisingly profiled as the one team the Dodgers might need to watch out for. But though I could maybe see that series going the distance, I find it hard to believe that Los Angeles—which has won 10 of 11 home games against the Brewers over the past four years and has two of the best hitters in the world—would drop Game 5 at home.
And while the seven remaining games between Atlanta and Philadelphia could change how we feel about that series a month from now, the Braves have been waiting and rampaging for an entire year to have their revenge on the Phillies for last year's NLDS debacle.
American League
No. 5 Texas Rangers over No. 1 Baltimore Orioles
No. 6 Seattle Mariners over No. 2 Houston Astros
Yet again, it's hard to put any faith in a mediocre AL East pitching staff against Texas' bats, particularly with the news over the weekend of Félix Bautista's UCL injury. That flame-throwing closer has been one of Baltimore's most valuable players, and the O's ceiling lowers considerably if he's done for the year.
And in the all-AL West ALDS, the Mariners have owned the Astros this season, including sweeping a three-game series in Houston a week ago—a series in which Luis Castillo and George Kirby didn't even pitch, no less. Houston swept this ALDS matchup a year ago, but the M's were still figuring out this whole postseason thing after a 21-year drought. This time, they'll snap Houston's six-year ALCS streak.
Projected MLB Postseason Bracket (NLCS, ALCS and World Series)
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NLCS: No. 1 Atlanta Braves over No. 2 Los Angeles Dodgers
It's not the World Series, but it's going to feel like it for this best-of-seven series between the co-favorites to win the World Series.
Both teams have tremendous raw power and star power on offense, with any one of Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Ronald Acuña Jr. or Matt Olson liable to turn this series into his own personal playground.
But it's the middle of the respective rotations where the Dodgers probably come up a bit short.
Julio Urías has been drastically better over the past month and a half and should pair well with Clayton Kershaw atop the Dodgers rotation. But can Lance Lynn really be trusted? Or Bobby Miller? Against maybe Charlie Morton and Bryce Elder? Sure feels like an edge for the team that will already have home-field advantage.
ALCS: No. 6 Seattle Mariners over No. 5 Texas Rangers
As is true of the projected Atlanta-Philadelphia NLDS, these division rivals have seven head-to-head meetings left. In this case, Seattle and Texas square off seven times in the final 10 days of the regular season. As such, I reserve the right to completely change my mind on this pick if the Rangers are clearly the superior team during that stretch.
Based on what we've seen from each of these teams over the past few weeks, though, it's hard to justify going with Texas. Seattle's bats have been sensational as of late, and the arms have been potent all season long.
It is fair to point out and be concerned that the Mariners are relying on four starting pitchers 26 years old or younger while the Rangers' rotation is loaded with experience. That reasonably could be a deal-breaker in this series. But give me Seattle finally reaching a World Series in its 47th season.
World Series: Atlanta Braves over Seattle Mariners
For fans of a certain age who grew up watching Atlanta on TBS when they weren't too busy trying to emulate Ken Griffey Jr.'s swing in the backyard, this would be quite the nostalgic matchup.
But it would also be an incredible showcase of baseball's future, with Spencer Strider and Bryce Elder going up against Julio Rodríguez, followed by George Kirby, Logan Gilbert and Bryce Miller trying to deal with Ronald Acuña Jr. and Michael Harris II.
The pick almost has to be Atlanta, though. Not saying Seattle can't pull it off, but the Braves have too much quality hitting to be silenced. Over the past month, they have scored 10 runs more often than they have been held below four runs. Even red-hot Seattle can't come close to making that claim.
